Author: Jonathan Witt

Below are the notes for my comments at the Traipsing into Evolution book party held at Discovery Institute yesterday. There the four authors discussed Judge Jones’ lengthy opinion in the Dover intelligent design trial, and touched on some of the highlights from the book, which was our response to his opinion.

British philosopher Antony Flew, “once considered the most prominent defender of atheism in the English-speaking world,” is scheduled to accept the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth from Biola University today:

Kevin Shapiro’s recent Wall Street Journal essay, “Misplaced Sympathies,” appeals to the opinion of a low-level district judge (John Jones of Dover fame), an Ohio school board vote, and a strawman characterization of intelligent design in an effort to convince us that Darwinism is settled truth.

If as a poll conducted by HDI Research in conjunction with the Finkelstein Institute suggests, 60% of U.S. medical doctors are skeptical of the Darwinian account of human origins, then why not start a dissent list for physicians similar to our dissent list of Ph.D. scientists? Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity now has, and M.D.s can read about the dissent statement and join the list at www.doctorsdoubtingdarwin.org. To promote the new list, link to it from your website and forward the URL to doctors you know, encouraging them to look at PSSI’s website.

After scientist and science writer Forrest Mims described University of Texas ecologist Eric Pianka’s speech to the Texas Academy of Science in which he expressed a longing for an ebola virus to wipe out 90 percent of the world’s population, Pianka’s defenders quickly went on the attack, claiming that Mims had wantonly misrepresented Pianka. But several lines of evidence suggest that Mims described Pianka’s speech quite accurately.

Alan Leshner, head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is describing the proposed Academic Freedom Act in Oklahoma as “code language … to promote a narrow religious agenda.” Lawrence Selden responds: So I raise this question: Is “encourag[ing] critical thinking by exposing students to all sides of the scientific debate about evolution” […]

A furious debate is stirring over at Cartago Delenda Est. The issue? How many Darwinists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Charles Darwin: None. But if it could be shown that the bulb entered the socket without a series of clockwise turns, my theory would absolutely break down.

It’s no coincidence that those who accept a materialistic/anti-design view of life’s origin (like Pianka) also typically buy into a zero-sum-game view of human activity and economic growth. The radical left have left out of their equation the role of creativity.

“I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth’s population by airborne Ebola.”